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Friday, April 14, 2017

Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Open for Business

On April 12, the U.S. Dept. of Commerce announced that the recently agreed-upon Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework had begun accepting self-certifications. Companies already participating in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework can log into their Privacy Shield website account and add coverage for personal data transfers from Switzerland to those from the EU via a parallel and accompanying certification. The Swiss Privacy Shield re-certification date will be adjusted to correspond to that of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield certification. A separate annual fee, geared to a company’s annual revenue, will be required in order to participate. FAQs addressing key points relating to the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework have been published on the Privacy Shield website.In other Privacy Shield developments, a week earlier the EU Parliament backed a proposal by its LIBE committee urging the European Commission to investigate whether the data transfer agreement adequately protects the privacy rights of European citizens in the face of U.S. surveillance. The MEPs, who voted 306 to 240 in favor of the resolution, also expressed concerns about many recent developments previously noted in this blog, such as the sharing of NSA data with 16 other agencies, the roll back of FCC privacy rules, cooperation of service providers with security agencies, and the inoperability of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. The first annual joint review of the Privacy Shield framework is scheduled to take place this coming September.